HarrisMartin's Webinar Series: Sexual Assault and Abuse Litigations - Strategies for Handling the Unique Challenges Speaker Profiles

Kimberly A. Dougherty knew from an early age that she wanted to help people. She volunteered for Big Brother Big Sister in college and quickly became passionate about issues facing women and children. Kim then earned a master’s degree in social work and worked in child protective services, but recognized that many people needed more. They needed a legal advocate. That’s when she decided to become an attorney.

Her law practice quickly turned to the people who needed the help most: ones severely injured by corporations who put profits before people. Today, she is a leading attorney in complex pharmaceutical, medical device mass tort, personal injury and medical malpractice litigation.

Monica A. Cooper is a trial lawyer with both civil and criminal experience. She joined The Lanier Law Firm in 2018 where she has an important role as a member of the trial team. She is also engaged in product liability, personal injury, pharmaceutical liability among other practice groups. Ms. Cooper is a former prosecutor with more than four years of courtroom experience prosecuting felony and misdemeanor trial cases from jury selection to closing arguments. She has tried more than 23 cases to verdict as lead counsel, and numerous others as second-chair, in matters ranging from murder, domestic violence, online solicitation, human trafficking, intoxication assault and sexual assault of children.

As an Assistant District Attorney with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in Conroe, Texas, she was a chief of the domestic violence division. As chief, she worked to restructure the division to better address emergency response and intake within the first 24-72 hours after the crime. She was also a member of the Vehicular Crimes Team, where she responded to the scenes of intoxication manslaughter and assault crimes.

Matt Garretson founded The Garretson Law Firm in 1998. Garretson received a BA from Yale University, a law degree at Kentucky’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law and a Masters in Theology from Chicago Theological Seminary. Garretson is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars regarding lawyers’ professional responsibilities in class action and other mass tort matters.

Garretson has served as the special master or administrator of settlement funds and crisis response programs through the country in environmental disaster, product liability, civil rights, sexual abuse and other cases. In this capacity, Garretson has substantial firsthand experience with the design, oversight and/or administration of hundreds of class action and mass tort resolution programs.

Courtney M. Delaney is an attorney and senior director in the Medicare Secondary Payer Policy division and serves as a subject matter expert in lien resolution and complex settlement administration. She provides consultative advice related to all aspects of Medicare Secondary Compliance, including reimbursement of conditional payments for past medical treatment, MMSEA Section 111 mandatory insurer reporting, and protecting Medicare’s interests with respect to future medicals.

Nicholas W. D’Aquilla is an attorney and the leader of the mass tort settlement administration consulting team at Epiq. He is responsible for leading a team of professionals who advise and provide solutions to clients involved in multidistrict and complex litigations with respect to resolution of healthcare liens, claims adjudication, settlement fund management and distribution.

Originally from Billings, Montana, Andrew Van Arsdale moved to San Diego, California to pursue a career in law to ensure people could access legal representation after being wronged by powerful corporations. Andrew earned his law degree in from the University of San Diego in 2018 and is licensed to practice law in California, Montana and Nevada. For years Andrew has helped people struggling from negligence-related injuries seek maximal compensation from responsible parties, ensuring client satisfaction at all times.